The Chron remembers the moment 60 years ago that Her Majesty ascended to the throne
Pictures of the Queen and other Royal Family for Lynn News Wrap
BY the age of 25, most people will have felt the burden of some sort of responsibility fall on their shoulders, and often they will have felt too young for it.
But few will ever really know or understand the feelings of young Princess Elizabeth who, 60 years ago today, discovered that she had just become the new Queen.
The much-loved King George VI, the Queen’s father, had died peacefully in his sleep at Sandringham House at the age of 56, having suffered from a severe lung condition.
When the new Queen heard the sad news she was miles away from home at the Royal hunting lodge in Kenya but, learning of the King’s death, made instant preparations to return home where she would be expected to take the Royal Oath and seal her accession to the throne.
Today marks the first significant Royal date in 2012, heralding the beginning of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations which will culminate in the long bank holiday weekend of June 2-5 when it is expected that the country will join together to mark this special event with street parties and other community events.
But what were the feelings of Northamptonshire people on February 6, 1952?
The Northampton Independent of that time records an overwhelming feeling of sadness for the loss of a popular king, equalled with hope for a bright future led by a youthful new queen.
King George VI had, after all, been the man to see the country through the harsh years of World War II, shouldering the responsibility after his brother’s sudden abdication from Royal duties.
A journalist at the Northampton Independent wrote: “Pedestrians paused in streets and shops, full of sadness, many with tears in their eyes.
“Sorrow was manifest on every side and very soon flags appeared at half-mast all over the district.
“The shock of His Majesty’s passing was deepened by the fact that he was well on the way to recovery - hopes intensified by the fact that, only a few days previously, he had attended a theatre for the first time since his operation in September.
“He also went to London Airport to bid farewell to Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh before returning to Sandringham to rejoin the shooting parties being held there...
“The life of the King was a far from enviable one.
“He suffered a series of illnesses culminating in the major operation which he faced with superb courage but then his convalescence was complicated by an attack of influenza.
“The abdication of his brother was, naturally, a terrible shock to him especially when he found himself called upon to take up the burdens of kingship for which he had no real ambition.”
The new Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, Earl Spencer, sent a telegram to the Queen mother expressing his regret for the King’s death and received a reply from the palace which stated: “I am sincerely grateful for your message. Please assure all those for whom you speak that I deeply value their kindness and sympathy.”
Despite the sadness, it seems that the people of Northampton also held trust and hope that the new Queen would honour the country suitably in her new role.
Hundreds of people turned out to a special ceremony in Northampton’s Market Square to hear the reading of the Royal Proclamation and, in the days following the King’s death, a special service was held at All Saints Church when Canon Trevor Lewis told the congregation: “Queen Elizabeth II must know the people will never fail her, as they never failed her father. And we know she will never disappoint our hopes or our confidence in her.”
Despite her young age, the princess had already made several visits to Northampton, notably to the Barratt Maternity Home in 1946, so had met many local people face to face.
The Northampton Independent reported: “Like the first great Queen Bess, Queen Elizabeth II has to face great troubles, but they are no greater than those over which her predecessor triumphed.
“This should be a great inspiration to her in shouldering the same exacting duties.
“She has certainly had good training for them and to her tuition she also brings the confidence of youth and a shrewd, sensible judgement not easily thwarted.
“This has been shown by her decision in favour of a two minutes’ silence instead of a whole day’s cessation of work and by her precedent of reducing the period of court mourning to the shortest in history without any indication at present of the date when half-mourning will be observed.
“Obviously Her Majesty does not approve of the prolonged gloom imposed by the BBC and the crippling effect upon industry which long mourning involves and of which her beloved and lamented father would certainly never had approved.”
MEMORIES OF FEBRUARY 6, 1952...
TONY MALLARD
WHEN King George VI passed away 60 years ago today, Northampton man Tony Mallard was right at the centre of the country’s drama as at that time he was serving with the Household Cavalry at Windsor Castle.
Tony, aged 79, who lives in Eastfield, said: “We were stationed at Windsor in 1952 and I was woken in the morning to the news that the King had died.
“After breakfast we marched down to our barracks and through Windsor to the castle. I was below the Garter Tower and above me was the Mayor of Windsor who proclaimed: ‘The King is dead, long live the Queen.’
“It was a dark winter morning and some of our squadron formed a guard of honour around the coffin in St George’s Chapel.
“A day or so after the Proclamation we came up on leave as the regiment were going abroad to relieve the Royal Horseguards. I had 14 days of embarkation leave and during that time there was the funeral.”
He added: “Most people then were Royalist and they thought a lot of the King but they thought a lot of the new Queen too. We all remembered her serving in the forces as a young girl in the ATS.”
KEITH SANDERS
CORNET player Keith Sanders from Spring Park, Northampton, believes he and the band he accompanied were the first musicians to ever play the national anthem for Queen Elizabeth II.
A former musician with the Middle East Air Force Band, he was stationed out in Kenya where the princess was when she first heard the news her father had died.
The 79-year-old said: “We had been stationed out there prior to the visit and we were there when the King died so we were probably the first band to play the national anthem for her.”
He continued: “We were raised early in the morning to be on parade at RAF Nairobi, they came and told us to get ready as the King had died and the Royal couple were flying back.
“There was a certain amount of shock I recall. We were part of the Guard of Honour as she left Nairobi and we played the national anthem. The Queen looked very sad, obviously.”
DOROTHY MANNING
COMING from a family of Royalists, Kislingbury resident Dorothy Manning well remembers the mixture of sadness and happiness which marked the year of 1952.
Her father Harry Davis held a senior position at Guinness during that time and the family soon became the proud possessors of especially engraved ‘Coronation’ bottles, of which only 200 were produced.
Today Dorothy still has one of the original pair of bottles her father received, which is completely unopened and intact.
She said: “I still have this bottle of Guinness which was produced especially for the Coronation and only 200 were made. We did not live in Northamptonshire back then, we lived in Harrow.
“My memory of February 6 itself was of my mother crying all day long. Every church bell rang in the country, everyone wore black and everyone went into deep mourning for six weeks.
“My mother cried for weeks, she was in such a terrible state about it because he was such a good king.”
When it came to the actual coronation the following year, Dorothy’s home became a hub for the community as the family possessed another rare commodity...a television.
She said: “People did not have TVs but my father had saved up to buy one which was second hand of course but it cost 21 guineas which was a lot of money.
“Everyone piled in to watch the Coronation on our TV and my mum made tea for everyone and did not get to watch much of it herself.”
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